Control unit for indicators of cooking ranges



Jana W, W59 R. G. SHEIDLER CONTROL UNIT FOR INDICATORS 0F COOKING RANGES Filed April 13, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l mam Z7 INVENTORI ,9 Z Robe/ 2 CiSWezd/er 7 /6z0 BY I z; I m7 patented Jan. 17, 1950 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL UNIT FOR INDICATORS or COOKING RANGES Robert G. Sheidler, Mansfield, Ohio. assignor to The Tappan Stove Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application April 13, 1948, Serial No. 20,614

4 Claims. (Cl. 177-311) anism by which the illumination of the indicator is controlled. It is particularly adapted for use with the indicating mechanism disclosed in the co-pending application of Charles M. Mayer, Ser. No. 20,678, filed April 13, 1948.

The invention contemplates the use of a ring energized. The energization of the ring is con-1 trolled by a suitable switch which is operated by the rotation of the valve stem.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective mechanism for controlling the illumination of an indicator from a valve stem through which the operation of a burner is controlled.

Other and more limited objects of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawings forming apart thereof wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a gas cooking range having my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the control unit;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevation of the control unit with the cover plate and electric bulb removed so as to more clearly show the construction and arrangement of various parts;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevation of one corner of the control unit with the cover plate removed and the electric bulb in place;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken on the line 9- 9 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 10 is a vertical section taken on the line ill-40 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of one of the switch elements. v

Referring now to the drawings by reference characters, the numeral l indicates generally a gas cooking range of the divided top type wherein a pair of'gas burners 2 are mounted one behind the other adjacent each side of the range. The burners 2 are located in top burner compartments 3 and have suitable utensil-supportinggrates l disposed over them. The top 5 has a splasher plate 6 extending upwardly from the rear edge thereof. Beneath each of the burner .ompartments 3 is a storage compartment which is closed by a door 1. compartments is an oven and a broiler compartment which are closed by doors 8 and 9 respectively. The numerals l0 and II indicate handles by which the doors 8 and 9 are opened and closed. A pair of escutcheon plates l2 are removably secured to the front walls l3 of the top burner compartments 3 above the doors 1.

Gas is supplied to the burners 2 from a common manifold I4 through valves l5 which control the operation of the burners, there being provided a separate valve for each burner. The valves I! are suitably secured to the manifold M which is held in place by suitable means, not shown. Each valve l5 has an operating stem l5 which extends forwardly from its valve through an opening IT in the wall l3 and an enlarged opening IS in the escutcheon plate l2. The outer end of each valve stem l6 has a flattened portion l9 and'is slotted as indicated at 20. An operating handle generally indicated by the numeral 2|, through which the valve stem 16 is rotated to open and close the valve I5 is frictionally secured to the outer end of each valve stem l6, so that it can be readily removed and replaced as desired. The flattened portions ill of the valve stems l6 which cooperate with complementary flattened portions in sockets 22 of the handles 2| assure the rotation of the valve stems when the handles 2i are turned. The slots.20 enable the valve stems IE to frictionally engage the walls of the sockets 22 with sufficient force to retain the handles 2| in place upon the valve stems l6 during normal operation. The handles 2| are molded from opaque plastic material and each comprises a dome-shaped body portion 23, having a cylindrical base 24, and an outwardly extending centrally disposed flat sided narrow section .25 by which the handle 2| is Between the burner and storage.

tending ring-shaped annular flange 2! and a central aperture 28 is loosely mounted upon each valve stem 6 between the handle 2| and the escutcheon plate l2, the valve stem l6 extending through the aperture 26. The discs 26 are made of colored glass or any other suitable translucent material, preferably colored, and the outside diameters thereof are just slightly greater than the diameters of the openings l8 through the escutcheon plates |2. The base 24 of each handle 2| is disposed within the ring-shaped annular flange 21 so that substantially all of the disc 26 is covered by the opaque handle 2| except the ring-shaped flange v21. The discs 26 are resiliently held against the escutcheon plates I2 by light helical springs 26 which are disposed around the stems I6 between the discs 26 and handle 2|.

Operatively associated with each valve stem I6 and disc 26 is a control unit through which the indicator disc 26 is illuminated when the associated burner is operating. The control units are all identical so that a detailed description of one unit will suilice for all of them. Each unit comprises a case 29 molded from insulating material in which is mounted a small electric bulb 30 and a switch generally indicated by the numeral 3|. The case 29 is suitably mounted behind the escutcheon plate I 2 in position for the bulb 30 to project light through the opening I8 against the disc 26. In the construction shown herein only the ring-shaped flange 21 will appear illuminated since the rest of the disc is covered by the opaque handle 2|. The energization of the bulb 30 is controlled by the switch 3| which is opened and closed by the rotation of the valve stem l6 which extends through the case 29 as is clearly shown in Figs. 2 to 5. The flattened portion |9 of the valve stem |6 lies parallel to and closely adjacent the upper end of a button 32 which is secured to and extends upwardly from a flexible arm 33 constituting one of the switch elements. The

arm 33 which is shaped as shown in Fig. 11 has one end thereof mounted in a recess 34 and is retained in position by a boss 35. The free end of the arm 33 extends under a boss 36 and has a contact 31 secured thereto. The contact 31 cooperates with a contact 38 on the switch element 39 which is mounted in a recess 40 beneath and to the rear of a boss 36. The element 39 which is spring material is held in position by its engagement with the corner of the boss 36 and the inner wall of the case 29, as indicated at 4| and 42, respectively. The vertical arm 43 of the element 39 extends up beyond the top 44 of the boss 36 in position to be engaged by the contact 45 of the bulb 30 as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

A bracket 46, which is secured to the rear wall of the case 29 above the boss 36 by a screw 48', has a forwardly and upwardly extending portion 48 from which is pressed a somewhat resilient tongue 49. Electrical conductors 50 and 5| are attached to the arm 33 and bracket 46 at 52 and 53, respectively.

The bulb 30 which is of standard construction, having the rear contact 45 and the metallic screw threaded base 54, is mounted within the case 29 as shown in Figs. 6 and 10, with the base 54 bearing against the top 44 of theboss 36 and the tongue 49 engaging one of the threads in the base 54. An L-shaped cover 55 which is held in place by screws 56, holds the bulb 30 and the switch elements 33 and 39 in place within the case 29.

When the valve stem I6 is turned by the handle 2| to render a burner 2 operative, it will depress the button 32 and arm 33 bringing the contacts 31 and 33 into engagement with each other. This will complete an electrical circuit from the conductor 50 through the arm 33, contacts 31 and 33, element 39, bulb 30, bracket 46 and conductor 5| thus energizing the bulb 30 which will project light against and illuminate the disc 26 showin that the associated burner is operating. When the burner is turned oil! the contacts 3'! and 33 will be broken which will de-energize the bulb 36 indicating that the burner is not operating.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a control unit for range burner indicators which is very compact and can be readily installed in the small space between the front wall of a range and the escutcheon plate adjacent the valve handles. It will also be apparent that I have provided a mounting for an electric bulb which is so constructed and arranged that the bulb can be quickly and readily removed and replaced as necessary.

I have shown and described my invention as applied to a cooking range having gas burners; However, it is equally applicable to ranges having electrical heating elements. When applied to such ranges the valve stems l6 are used to operate suitable electric switches through which the energization of the heating elements is controlled.

It is to be understood that I am not restricted to the specific construction shown and described herein as various modifications can be made thereto within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a cooking range having a translucent indicator which is adapted to be illuminated when a burner is operated, means operated by the rotation of a burner operating stem for controlling the illumination of said indicator, said means comprising; a casing through which a burner operating stem projects, an electric bulb having a screw threaded base mounted in said casing and adapted when energized to project light against said indicator, a bracket secured to the rear wall of said casing, a narrow resilient tongue secured to said bracket and extending forwardly and upwardly from said bracket over a boss in said casing and adapted to engage one of the screw threads in the base of said bulb, a removable cover which engages the base of said bulb and holds said base in engagement with said tongue and said boss, a switch in said casing operative to control the energization of said bulb, and cooperating means between said switch and said burner operating stem through which said switch is opened and closed by the rotation of said stem.

2. In a cooking range having a translucent indicator which is adapted to be illuminated when a burner is operated, means operated by the rotation of a burner operating stem for controlling the illumination of said indicator, said means comprising; a casing through which a burner operating stem projects, an electric bulb having a .screw threaded base mounted in said casing and .65v

adapted when energized to project light against said indicator, a bracket secured to the rear wall of said casing, a narrow resilient tongue secured to said bracket and extending forwardly and upwardly from said bracket over a boss in said casing and adapted to engage one of the screw threads in the base of said bulb, a removable cover which engages the base of said bulb and holds said base in engagement with said tongue and said boss, a switch in said casing operative to control the energization of said bulb, said dicator which is adapted to be illuminated when a burner is operated, means operated by the rotation of a burner operating stem for controlling the illumination of said indicator, said means comprising; a casing through which a burner operating stem projects, an electric bulb having a screw threaded base mounted in said casing and adapted when energized to project light against said indicator, a bracket secured to the rear wall of said casing, a terminal on said bracket to which one side of an electric circuit is connected, a narrow resilient tongue secured to said bracket and extending forwardly and upwardly from said bracket over a boss in said casing and adapted to engage one of the screw threads in the base of said bulb, a removable cover which engages the base of said bulb and holds said base in engagement with said tongue and said boss, a switch in said casing operative to control the energization of said bulb, said switch including two elements removably mounted in said casing, one of said elements having a vertically disposed resilient arm engaging the rear contact on said bulb and a horizontally disposed am having a contact thereon, the other of said elements having a horizontally disposed resilient arm, a contact on the free end of said horizontally disposed resilient arm in alignment with the contact on the first mentioned element, a terminal on the other end of said other element to which the other side of an electric circuit is connected, an insulating button secured to and projecting upwardly from said horizontally disposed resilient arm and adapted to be depressed by the rotation of said burner operating stem whereby said aligned contacts are brought'into engagement to establish an electric circuit through said bulb. 4. In a cooking range having a translucent indicator which is adapted to be illuminated when a burner is operated, means operated by the rotation of a burner operating stem for controlling the illumination of said indicator, said means comprising; a casing through which a burner operating stem projects, an electric bulb having a screw threaded base mounted in said casing and adapted when energized to project light against said indicator, a bracket secured to the rear wall of said casing, a terminal on said bracket to which one side of an electric circuit is connected, a narrow resilient tongue secured to said bracket and extending forwardly and upwardly from said bracket over a boss in said casing and adapted to engage one of the screw threads in the base of said bulb, a removable cover which engages the base of said bulb and holds said base in engagement with said tongue and said boss, a switch in said casing operative to control the energization of said bulb, said switch including two elements removably mounted in said casing, one of said elements having a vertically disposed resilient arm engaging the rear contact on said bulb and a horizontally disposed arm having a contact thereon, the other of said elements having a horizontally disposed resilient arm, a contact on the free end of said horizontally disposed resilient arm in alignment with the contact on the first mentioned element, a terminal on the other end of said other element to which the other side of an electric circuit is connected, an insulating button disposed above said horizontally disposed .resilient arm and adapted to be depressed by the rotation of said burner operating stem whereby said aligned contacts are brought into engagement to establish an electric circuit through said bulb.

ROBERT G. SHEIDLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,197,230 waddell Apr. 16, 1940 2,240,340 Mills et a1. Apr. 29, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 677,960 France July 6, 1929 

